Western Magnesium Corp. (TSX-V:WMG, OTCQB:MLYF) has applauded a national effort to establish a US administration-wide policy aimed at securing domestic sources of critical minerals.
In a memo to the Secretary of Defense, US President Joe Biden said developing a responsible industrial base that has access to critical minerals is “essential” to US national security.
“To promote the national defense, the United States must secure a reliable and sustainable supply of such strategic and critical materials,” the memo stated. “The US shall, to the extent consistent with the promotion of the national defense, secure the supply of such materials through environmentally responsible domestic mining and processing; recycling and reuse; and recovery from unconventional and secondary sources, such as mine waste.”
READ: Western Magnesium kicks off final engineering field inspections at its commercial pilot plant
Washington DC-based Western Magnesium said its commercial pilot plant will start “green” magnesium production operations later this month, describing it as an “evolutionary approach” that has not been seen in the decades since America outsourced the process of producing critical minerals with hazardous results.
In a statement, Western Magnesium CEO Sam Ataya said: “America got a crash course in the fragility of the global supply chain in 2021, but 2022 is the year we can do something about it, and we’re grateful to see others recognize not just the problem, but the solution.”
Global supply chains for strategic materials were already tightening before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine developed. In response to these pressures, the Secretary of the Interior released a list of 50 critical minerals in February, including magnesium, which is critical to the availability of key magnesium alloys and the production of aluminum used in both defense and civilian goods.
That list was developed under the Energy Act of 2020, a major step toward recognizing the importance that strategic minerals play in the country’s defense posture. Now, with additional national support, the US is poised to reclaim its role as a major world manufacturer and strengthen its national security at the same time.
Lisa Maxwell, who is the president of global operations and COO, at Western Magnesium, added: “We are working to reintroduce magnesium production into America in unprecedented ways and build an economy that not only creates skilled jobs that support our independence and national security but also protects the environment for future generations.”
Western Magnesium noted that the company will soon produce magnesium using this innovative technology in Canada and is “scouting sites in America” for similar facilities that answer the US administration’s call to build a “robust, resilient, sustainable, and environmentally responsible domestic industrial base to meet the requirements of the clean energy economy”.
Western Magnesium's goal is to be a low-cost producer of green, primary magnesium metal, a strategic commodity prized for its strength and light weight. Unlike costly and highly polluting production processes, the firm plans to use a continuous silicothermic process to produce magnesium, which significantly reduces labor and energy costs compared to current methods, while being environmentally friendly.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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